Following unfortunate reports that brick and mortar sales registered low performance during the Thanksgiving weekend, ecommerce emerged as the torch in cyber sales, thanks mostly due to mobile search.

Mercent, which powers a number of of the online campaigns for some of the greatest names in the industry (such as Brookstore and Office Deport) reported an astonishing 40% increase in online sales on Thanksgiving Day as compared to the same period in 2012. On the other hand, Black Friday sales registered a 35% increase, which was a record high.

Huge increases in retailer paid search engine spend were recorded. According to a new report released by Kenshoo, this Thanksgiving recorded a 27% increase on paid search campaigns as compared to the same Period last year. Black Friday and Thanksgiving registered 21% and 33% paid search spend respectively.

Aaron Goldman, the Kenshoo CMO said the two days had a dramatic effect on Kenshoo which saw an increase in the paid search ad spend and consequently an increase in the revenues from online sales which was a clear indication that the peak season is off to a good start. He opined that the trend is expected to continue.

This season, tablets and Smartphone had the lion’s share in terms of expenditure. Expenditure on computers dropped to 60.3 percent, a 24.1% drop from last year. On the other hand, the Smartphone budget rose up to 79.1% which accounted for 21.2% of the total spending on paid search. Tablets’ total paid search spend accounted for 18.5 per cent of the total search spend.

Goldman added that with the total paid search ad spend for phones and tablets accounting for close to 40% of the total paid search ad spend, it was a sign of a total revolution. He opined that the trend shows marketers have devised a strategy to win over shoppers wherever and whenever they went to.

In 2013, it is estimated that about 44.2% of all paid search clicks were attributed to mobile devices. Of these devices, 27 percent went to phones while 17.2% were attached to tablets. These figures indicate a rise in paid search clicks from the previous years, with 2012 recording 27.7% in the whole of November and a 14.5% in the entire holiday season of 2011.

However, in terms of revenue, computers are still ahead of the pack though the gap is fast reducing. The revenue share from computers recorded a fall from 90.4% in 2012 to 73.2% in 2013. The revenue share from mobile devices recorded a 176% increase this year with tablets registering a 22.4% while phones registered 4.4%. The revenues attributed to phones are still on the lower side as compared to tablets since most people prefer to shop from the comfort of their couches with their tablets.

According to Mercent, Google shopping recorded a faster growth rate than Amazon.com during Thanksgiving and Black Friday. This growth is as a result of Google’s effort to provide its shoppers with more engaging tools for shopping. Amazon and Google registered 26% and 70% growth respectively on Thanksgiving. Similar outcomes were posted during Black Friday.

To learn more about this news regarding the Black Friday weekend of online sales, visit Search Engine Land where they have more insights and upcoming news regarding cyber Monday.